All My Children
| All My Children | |
|---|---|
| File:Allmychildren2004.jpg | |
| Created by | Agnes Nixon |
| No. of episodes | 9535 (January 19, 2007) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Julie Hanan Carruthers |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC, SOAPnet |
| Release | January 5 1970 |
All My Children is an American soap opera that has been broadcast Monday through Friday on the ABC TV network since January 5, 1970. Originally a half-hour in length, the show moved to an hour in 1977. It is videotaped at ABC's television studio on West 66th Street in New York City. As of July 31, 2006, the show has a filmed (as opposed to taped) appearance.
All My Children was created by Agnes Nixon. Although Nixon had previously created One Life to Live for ABC following her success as head writer for Another World and The Guiding Light, All My Children was her first love and first major creation. She set the show in Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, a small suburb of Philadelphia.
The title of the show refers to the brotherhood of man. Nixon believed that it doesn't matter who one was, what one looked like, or where one was from — for every human being was a child of God. The poem at the start of the All My Children photo album reads: The Great and the Least, The Rich and the Poor, The Weak and the Strong, In Sickness and in Health, In Joy and Sorrow, In Tragedy and Triumph, You are ALL MY CHILDREN. The poem, which epitomizes the goal of All My Children''s storytelling, was penned by Nixon herself.
With the death of core cast member Ruth Warrick in January 2005, two original cast members, Ray MacDonnell and Susan Lucci, remain.
At one time, the program was so popular that it was the most widely-recorded television show in the United States, and once had an audience that was estimated to be 30% male. [1] The show ranked #1 in the daytime Nielsen ratings from 1978-1979. Throughout most of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, All My Children was the #2 daytime soap opera on the air. The show averages about 3.3 million viewers.
AMC History
AMC: The 1970s
In the 1960s Agnes Nixon, then head writer for The Guiding Light, tried to sell a property called All My Children to NBC, then CBS, then NBC again through the auspices of sponsor Procter & Gamble. Despite her success and sponsor support, it was not until the start of 1970 that her brainchild finally aired.
Agnes Nixon strived to create a soap that was topical, and could illustrate social issues to the audience. She wanted all this while also injecting regular humor into the script. To keep the action more real, she allowed the audience to locate her fictional "Pine Valley" on a map: situated just outside of Philadelphia, it was a mere hour-long train ride from New York City.
From 1970 and into the 1980s, the show was either written by Agnes Nixon herself or by her protégé, Wisner Washam. He was groomed by Nixon to take the reins in the 1980s while she focused on other endeavors, like creating and launching Loving in 1983. Lorraine Broderick and Margaret DePriest also had brief stints as head writers in the 1980s.
The show's first action took place around several families and characters. Phoebe Tyler, who fashioned herself as "Queen of Pine Valley", was the definition of a rich snob. There was also single mother Mona Kane and her prima donna daughter, Erica. Contrasting this was the stable Martin Family, who have long been thought of as the symbolic foundation of All My Children.
If Phoebe was the "Queen of Pine Valley", then Susan Lucci's Erica Kane was definitely the "Princess". Erica Kane's first scene in Pine Valley will live in infamy. She riled out to her mother everything she was looking for in a husband, establishing her ambition and her knack for rich men. But deep inside, Erica was nursing the scars of her abandonment by her father, successful film director Eric Kane. At the same time, her father's life in Hollywood was the driving force for her longing to leave Pine Valley. Destined to break up the young romance of classmates Tara Martin (Karen Lynn Gorney) and Phil Brent (Richard Hatch), Erica found out that Phil was not Ruth's son, but the son of Amy (Rosemary Prinz). In a selfish attempt to break up Phil and Tara, she told everyone the truth.
All My Children’s first success was its telling of young love. ABC wanted a soap opera that would bring in young viewers, and slowly the program was accomplishing just that.
The show’s ratings did not start out strong, however. In its first year on the air, it ranked #17 out of 19 soaps. Despite this, its audience was building with each passing year, which kept both Agnes Nixon and ABC happy.
The show was unique for its use of the Vietnam War. Before All My Children debuted no show, let alone daytime soap, had discussed the war in any depth. There was the character of Phoebe, a conservative, and Amy, a free-spirited liberal, both butting heads over the war, with Amy often leading protests around Pine Valley. When the character of Amy left, Ruth took over as the anti-war voice. Her early ‘70s protest speech won Mary Fickett the first ever Emmy Award given to a soap performer back in 1972. Later in the show's run, Phoebe became more liberal.
In 1973, Erica Kane made the decision to have an abortion. What made the abortion extra-controversial was Erica's reason for doing it. She wasn't having it done because her health was in jeopardy, but because she didn't want to gain weight and lose her modeling job. The abortion story got much media attention, especially since Roe v. Wade had been decided just a few months before the story began airing. Erica developed a potentially fatal infection after having the abortion, and the switch-boards at ABC lit up with calls from doctors and nurses, offering their medical opinions on how best to treat the character's case. The controversy didn’t hurt ratings, which rose from an 8.2 to a 9.1 Household rating.
Phoebe's husband Charles (Hugh Frankin) had gotten close to Mona Kane (Frances Heflin), Erica's mother and his secretary at the hospital. The two fell in love and Charles divorced Phoebe, even though she tried to blackmail Mona and even faked paralysis. In the end, Phoebe was left a drunken divorcée and Mona became the new Mrs. Tyler. This ordeal started the longtime Phoebe/Mona rivalry.
When Eileen Letchworth, who played Margo Flax Martin, was contemplating a facelift, she talked it over with Agnes Nixon. Not only was Letchwoth going to need time off, she was going to look significantly different when she returned to the show. Nixon approved and worked the facelift into a storyline. Margo wanted to impress the somewhat younger Paul Martin (William Mooney). Margo’s facelift in 1974 was one of the first major storylines on television discussing cosmetic surgery and its psychological effects.
In June 1976, the character of Brooke English showed up on her Aunt Phoebe's doorstep and soon after clashed with Erica over Tom Cudahy and Mark Dalton. Since then, Brooke has feasted on many of Erica's left-over men. Also, in 1976 was the introduction of fan favorite Myrtle Lum Fargate (Eileen Herlie).
By the late ‘70s the show had risen to the top of the ratings. A new addition in 1979 was the arrival of aristocratic Palmer Cortlandt (aka Peter Cooney) (James Mitchell), his somewhat creepy housekeeper Myra Murdock, and his overprotected daughter Nina (Taylor Miller), who, to Palmer's chagrin, caught the fancy of Dr. Cliff Warner (Peter Bergman). Palmer did everything in his power to break up the couple, included telling Nina she was going blind due to her diabetes. Palmer teamed up with Cliff's past flame, nurse Sybil Thorne (Linda Gibboney), who confronted Cliff about fathering her son. But this was temporary, because Sybil was murdered by Sean Cudahy (Allen Dysart). During the murder trial, Nina was astonished to learn that her mother, Daisy Cortlandt (Gillian Spencer), whom she believed to be dead, was in fact alive and living in Pine Valley as ‘Monique Jonville’. To complete everyone's shock, Myra acknowledged that Daisy was her daughter.
AMC also found memorable villains in Billy Clyde Tuggle and Ray Gardner.
AMC: The 1980s
The early '80s is considered by many to have been a golden period for the show. Younger characters, such as Jenny and Greg (Kim Delaney and Laurence Lau), Liza (Marcy Walker), Liza's best friend Amanda Cousins (Amanda Bearse), Jesse and Angie (Darnell Williams and Debbi Morgan) and a now-grown-up Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight), who was now legally Ruth and Joe's son, entered the scene and drew large followings.
The storyline involving Liza plotting to win Greg back after he left her for Jenny was a huge fan favorite, as was the Jenny/Greg pairing. The legend of "Tad the Cad" was born when Tad Martin took Liza Colby's virginity, then simultaneously began having sex with her mother, socialite Marian Colby (Jennifer Bassey), who eventually was sent to prison and returned to marry Stuart Chandler (David Canary).
Jenny and Jesse's summer in New York City was so well received that it allowed the program to reach #1 in the ratings for 10 weeks during the summer of 1982.
On the not-so-younger side, Jenny and Tad's natural mother Opal (Dorothy Lyman) was also added to the canvas, where she opened the Glamorama salon and spa. Opal greatly showcased All My Children’s attempt at humor and satire. Powerful businessman Adam Chandler and his twin brother Stuart arrived in town and became frontburner characters.
The character of Erica began to take on a larger-than-life role by the '80s. This was evident with her writing an autobiography, "Raising Kane", and turning it into a motion picture. When her presumed half-sister (Deborah Goodrich) accused her of murdering Kent Bogard (Michael Woods, Lee Goodart), her former lover and boss, she went on the run fleeing to the Hollywood Hills. She did this all while posing as a nun. Many remember her forest encounter with a grizzly bear after she escaped a kidnapping attempt made by Adam. The character would go on to marry over 10 times (with her most recent wedding taking place in June 2005).
The show made their first attempt at tackling the taboo topic of homosexuality in 1983. Tricia Pursley played the divorced Devon McFadden who believed she was falling in love with her psychiatrist, Lynn Carson (played by Donna Pescow). Lynn admitted to being a lesbian, and Devon admitted her crush. Other soaps and television shows had done stories hinting at bisexuality, but never homosexuality, much less with women.
The show intelligently tackled the issue of drug use when Mark LaMura's character, Mark Dalton, became addicted to cocaine after years of casual use. His half-sister, Erica staged an intervention with his friends to have him confront his problems. They practiced a "tough love" policy that had Mark admit to the addiction. The informative episode showed how to hold an intervention, and the stages to go through for a successful confrontation.
Controversy hit in 1987 with the arrival of Cindy Parker (Ellen Wheeler), who would later fall in love with Stuart Chandler (David Canary). The character was revealed to have AIDS. Through visits by Dr. Angie Hubbard, the show educated the public on how the disease was spread and how to prevent it. Cindy had contracted HIV from her husband, Fred, who contracted it from sharing needles for drug use. Cindy would be attacked by a vigilante hate group led by her niece Skye Chandler. The tragedy of the attack showed the extremes of violence that was occurring everyday to victims of the disease. Cindy married Stuart and he adopted her son Scott. She died early in 1989 in one of the soaps most watched episodes.
By 1989, ABC wanted changes at All My Children. The show was getting about 6.5 million viewers per episode, but many felt that the program had lost its unique sense of humor. Agnes Nixon and Wisner Washam, who had both written the show since the '70s, were faced with a merry-go-round of executive producers, starting in the mid-'80s when producer Jacqueline Babbin left. Jorn Winther was hired to executive produce the show. Efforts were made to bring the show back to the glory days of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. This would mean adding a mixture of both social issues and also the intelligent satire that the show had been known for.
Felicia Minei Behr was hired as the new executive producer in early 1989. Having been a producer on Ryan's Hope, Behr was familiar with All My Children, having been a crew member dating back to 1970. Behr welcomed the input of both Nixon and Washam. In the eyes of Agnes Nixon, the show finally had a stable executive producer. Behr worked with Nixon and Washam, crafting a baby storyline involving the characters of Adam, Brooke, Tad, and Dixie between the characters of Tad and Dixie (Cady McClain), with whom Behr saw much chemistry between. By this time, the show also found a hit couple in Cecily and Nico (played by Rosa Nevin and Maurice Benard).
ABC was pleased with Behr; Agnes Nixon was as well, and decided her creation was safe in the hands of the new producer. The program was faced with many actor defections during this time, including longtime favorites such as Peter Bergman, Taylor Miller, and Debbi Morgan, but Behr countered this by bringing back other favorite characters from the past -- Opal (this time played by Jill Larson) and Billy Clyde Tuggle (the former pimp who first made his big splash in the '70s). Behr also helped craft a story re-exploring Erica's father, Eric Kane. It was revealed he had faked his own death. In a comical twist, Erica found him working as a clown in a traveling circus.
AMC: The 1990s
At the time of Behr's hiring in early 1989, the show usually ranked around #4 in the ratings, by 1990 the show had inched up to the #3 spot. ABC chose Megan McTavish, a former actress who had been on the writing team since 1987, to be its new head writer. She was promoted to head writer in 1992, with Nixon serving as Executive Head Writer.
Stories such as Molly's leukemia, Ceara Connor (Genie Francis)’s incest, Mona’s lung cancer, and Deconstruction (a story about racism), were all praised in the soap magazines for their social conscience. Other storylines included the 'Who Killed Will?' mystery, Willow Lake Acres (a both humorous and serious tale about the plight of the elderly in a fraudulent nursing home), and a tornado that rocked Pine Valley. Kendall Hart (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who was revealed to be the product of a rape that happened to Erica on her fourteenth birthday, was a major rewrite, but still a popular story in the eyes of many. The Santos, Dillon, Frye, and Keefer families were introduced during this time as well.
Tad and Dixie were now very popular The show had other couples with large followings during this time: Erica and Dimitri (Michael Nader), Trevor (James Kiberd) and Natalie (Kate Collins), and Hayley (Kelly Ripa) and Brian (Gregory Gordon, Matt Borlenghi, Brian L. Greene).
Many fans consider the early '90s to have been a second golden period for the show, often comparing it to the late '70s/early '80s.
However, by the early-mid-90's, some of McTavish's storytelling received criticism for being gimmick-driven (i.e. multiple dual roles, bomb plots). Reports soon surfaced that Behr and McTavish were having conflicts about storylines and the direction of AMC. After the O.J. Simpson trial pre-empted daytime television programs throughout late 1994 and into 1995, many soaps saw their ratings decline, and All My Children was no different. When Megan McTavish was fired from her head writing post in the spring, former associate head writer Lorraine Broderick was tapped by Behr as the new head writer.
Broderick's tenure under Behr was popular among critics and fans for returning AMC to its socially relevant, character-driven roots. Her biggest successes were Erica's drug addiction story (with the character receiving treatment at the Betty Ford Center), and also the story of a homophobia over a gay high school boy and a history teacher. But with the ratings still stagnant, ABC fired longtime executive producer Felicia Minei Behr, and brought in Francesca James (who had previously won an Emmy award acting on the show as twins Kitty and Kelly). The storylines now included a voodoo arc with the popular Noah and Julia (Keith Hamilton Cobb and Sydney Penny), a fantasy story for Myrtle featuring the “real” Santa Claus, and finally a baby kidnapping story involving Erica.
Despite winning three consecutive Daytime Emmys for writing during her tenure on AMC, Broderick was replaced in December 1997 by her predecessor, McTavish. The first major story McTavish tackled was ironically one created by Broderick, Bianca Montgomery's anorexia. The character of Bianca, Erica’s young daughter, was checked into a facility to treat the disease. Apart from the anorexia story, McTavish’s tales were plot-driven and made severe, implausible alterations to the show's history such as the resurrection of Erica's lifetime-love, Mike Roy (Nicholas Surovy). In 1998 the show, yet again, got a new executive producer, Jean Dadario Burke, taking over from Francesca James. She would become known to many speculating fans as a weak producer with little vision.
Cady McClain, who had left the show as Dixie in 1996, returned to the delight of her fans, but other storylines -- involving ghosts, poison tattoos, Nazi art, and a sperm switch -- were all busts. By the start of 1999, with All My Children being voted as the 'Worst of 1998' by Soap Opera Digest magazine, McTavish was once again fired.
As ratings began to fall in the late '90s, ABC convinced Agnes Nixon to make a brief return. Many long-running actors, such as Michael Nader, James Kiberd, and Robin Mattson, left their roles. Nixon decided to write a story that would breathe new life into the show and be socially relevant at the same time. This resulted in the revelation that Erica Kane's daughter Bianca was a lesbian. She admitted the truth to her mother in December 2000. Despite the many flaws during this period, the show found mild success in the pairings of newcomers, Leo (Josh Duhamel) and Greenlee (Rebecca Budig).
Starting with the July 25,2006 episode, All My Children is being shown in the simulated film look which has drawn some viewer criticism (this look had previously been seen on Disney Channel sitcoms, such as That's So Raven and Hannah Montana). It is still shot on videotape,like other soap operas but they apply a digital process in post production which edits out every other frame,giving the show a distorted faux film look. Previews in the end credits are still seen in the normal unprocessed video. Hand held cameras were heavily used as well, but are now being used less often.
All My Children storylines
Head Writer: Megan McTavish
After even more staff turnover in recent years, Megan McTavish, who wrote the show for most of the '90s, again returned. Her storylines began airing in July 2003, which included the controversial rape of Bianca.
Gone upon McTavish's latest return was Jean Dadario Burke as executive producer, being replaced with Julie Hanan Carruthers.
Under McTavish, ratings bounced from the middle of the pack and the bottom. McTavish resorted to quick thinking and stunt casting to lure back long-time viewers. Various characters returned to the show after long absences, including Julia Santos (Sydney Penny) and Janet Green (Kate Collins, who was originally slated to return for a brief stint and was eventually given a contract. The most notable, however, was the long-kept secret of Cady McClain's return as the iconic Dixie Cooney Martin. The news of her return was spread just two weeks before she appeared on viewers' screens again.
A controversial storyline had Erica's thought-to-be-aborted son come to Pine Valley.
In August 2006 after months of speculation it was confirmed that fan favorite Eden Riegel would be reprising her Emmy winning role of Bianca Montgomery. Since departing the show in February, 2005, Eden has returned for three limited guest appearances but this time signed a contract of undetermined length with the show.
In 2006 the show began a storyline about a transgender character that involves Bianca and the rock musician Freddie 'Zarf/Zoe' Luper.
In December of 2006, AMC introduced a storyline where the women of Fusion began being killed by a serial killer. Simone and Erin were the first two victims of the serial killer, with Danielle Frye being the third. When the "Satin Slayer" attacked Danielle, she saw him/her before collapsing. Josh Madden and Babe get to Danielle before she dies, and get her to the hospital, but she was unable to identify her attacker. Her father had her moved to Hawaii for her recovery, and to get her away from the killer.
Title Sequences
Ever since the debut in 1970, AMC's opener has included a photo album/scrapbook in some kind of form.
With the premiere, the opening was simple: a camera slowly zooms in on a leather-bound photo album as a female hand (it is Agnes Nixon's) enters the shot to open the album. On the first page of the album, the title is shown in calligraphic type. Until at least June 1970, the hand turned to a second page, crediting Rosemary Prinz as a "Special Guest Star". Prinz, at the time, was the cast member with the most soap opera experience, and crediting her in the beginning was used a way to coax her fans to tune in. She left after six months on the show, and the second page was eliminated from the sequence.
This set ran until December 1989, making it one of the longest-running packages in soap history. The theme music used with this version was written by Dina Dore and her daughter Carlina Paul. It went through several arrangements, as in the beginning it was a soft lullaby-type tune, but as time progressed, it was more sweeping and cheery.
The show's next sequence debuted during the week of the 20th anniversary in January 1990. The new opening kept the photo album theme, of course, but expanded on it. It began with the camera panning across a desk featuring framed pictures of longtime cast members. This dissolved into a series of animations in which still pictures of each cast member hovered into piles on the desk. It ended with a portrait of lead actress Susan Lucci slowly sliding onto a page in the photo album, as it closed to reveal the title in an Old English type on the cover. Occasionally, the title would disappear from the cover and a sponsor's logo would be in its place, with the announcer doing an ad for the sponsor. Felicia Minei Behr (who was All My Children’s executive producer from 1989-1996) was responsible for this opening, and thought a change was desperately needed to bring the show into the '90s.
As popular as the opening was (it was a genius idea in that the set-up allowed everyone from contract cast members to recurring cast members to be included), the theme music was even more popular. Written by legendary television composers Robert Israel and Billy Barber, it began with a perky melody. The theme song was identified with the show's years of the early '90s.
For the 25th anniversary, a new opening made its debut. It featured stills (later live action video) of each cast member fading in and out of a white background while various images, including galloping horses, house exteriors, pearl necklaces, and pink roses, crossfaded throughout the headshots. Susan Lucci was again given a nod as her picture was always first and was the only one in the sequence to be framed (with a silver picture frame). At the end, Agnes Nixon's hand-written epigram for the show crossfaded in the background just as the photo album did. The music that accompanied this opening was composed by David Benoit.
In 2002, after seven and a half years of the "white opening," a new opening made its debut. Of course, it featured the photo album, but unlike the other openings, the photo album was constantly seen throughout. It began with a closeup of the album (with the title on the cover) as it opened. The Agnes Nixon epigram is seen on the front page, but the screen fades into the montage of cast member headshots, all done in live action. The photos were already on their pages in the album and as each face was shown, the name of the character was scrawled on their page in the book, similar to what many people do with their own family scrapbooks. Yet again, Susan Lucci is paid homage by being at the end of both versions of this opening. This time, however, she shared that honor with David Canary, as he was in both openings as well, as Adam Chandler in one and Stuart in the other. The music for this opening was a much-loved update of the 1990-1994 theme by Robert Israel and Billy Barber.
The show reportedly had difficulty when attempting to update this opening; for the first six months it was in use there were no updates despite many cast changes. Several cast members left the show and remained in the opening for months. When the opening finally was updated to feature new stars such as William Devry and Marc Menard, their images were blurry and of very poor quality.
After barely a year and a half of the previous opening, the show debuted another on May 31, 2004. This opening was styled after the commercial break bumpers that were present on all of ABC's serials at the time. One Life to Live and General Hospital's openings were done in similar ways to the All My Children opening.
The new opening generated mixed opinions from fans. The pros of it were that many pictures from the show's past, including montages of classic Susan Lucci and Ruth Warrick headshots and a wedding portrait from Edmund and Maria (John Callahan and Eva LaRue)'s 1994 wedding, was seen at the beginning. Also in favor was the updated update of the classic early '90s theme song.
Cast
Current Cast Members
Recurring Cast Members
| Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Jennifer Bassey | Marian Chandler |
| Claire Byrne | Amelia Cambias |
| John Bolton | John Summerhill |
| Haley Evans | Miranda Montgomery |
| Joel Fabiani | Barry Shire |
| Ava and Julia Farrar | Spike Lavery |
| Alexa Gerasimovich | Kathy Mershon |
| Bob Heitman | Dr. Stanley Clader |
| Elizabeth Hendrickson | Maggie Stone |
| Jill Larson | Opal |
| Michael Malone | Val |
| Lee Meriwether | Ruth Martin |
| Lucy Merriam | Emma McDermott |
| Charles Parnell | Derek Frye |
| Tonya Pinkins | Livia Frye |
| Adrien Rieder | Kenny Adler |
| Jarred Sturman | Adam Chandler III |
| Jessalyn Wanlim | Rachael |
Coming and Going Cast Members
| Actor | Character | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Susan Pratt | Barbara Montgomery | Returns February 9th |
| Kate Collins | Janet Dillon | Temp. Returns February 9th |
| Cady McClain | Dixie Martin | Exits January |
| Jill Larson | Opal Cortland | Returns January 2007 |
Deceased Cast Members
| Actor | Character | Year of Death |
|---|---|---|
| Philip Amelio | Scott Chandler #1 | 2005 |
| Kay Campbell | Katherine "Kate" Martin #3 | 1985 |
| Louis Edmonds | Langley Wallingford | 2001 |
| Kate Harrington | Katherine "Kate" Martin #1 | 1978 |
| Frances Heflin | Mona Kane | 1994 |
| Lynne Thigpen | Grace Keffer | 2003 |
| Ruth Warrick | Phoebe Tyler | 2005 |
AMC Ratings
Since it's debut till 2000, AMC was a highly rated series.
1980-1989 Ratings
Nielsen Media: 1979-1980 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. General Hospital 9.9
- 2. All My Children 9.2
1981-1982 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. General Hospital 11.2
- 2. All My Children 9.4
1982-1983 Season
- 1. General Hospital 9.8
- 2. All My Children 9.4
1983-1984 Season
- 1. General Hospital 10.0
- 2. All My Children 9.1
1984-1985 Season
- 1. General Hospital 9.1
- 2. All My Children 8.2
1985-1986 Season
- 1. General Hospital 9.2
- 2. The Young And The Restless 8.3
- 3. All My Children 8.0
1986-1987 Season
- 1. General Hospital 8.3
- 2. The Young And The Restless 8.0
- 3. One Life To Live 7.2
- 4. All My Children 7.0
1987-1988 Season
- 1. General Hospital 8.1 (#1 in viewers)
- 2. The Young And The Restless 8.1 (#2 in viewers)
- 3. One Life To Live 7.7
- 3. All My Children 7.7
1988-1989 Season HH Ratings
- 1. The Young And The Restless 8.1
- 2. General Hospital 7.5
- 3. One Life To Live 7.1
- 4. All My Children 6.7
1990-1999 Ratings
Nielsen Media: 1989-1990 Season (HH Ratings) (1 HH rating = 921,000 Homes)
- 1. The Young And The Restless 8.0
- 2. General Hospital 7.4
- 3. All My Children 6.5
1990-1991 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. The Young And The Restless (**8.1**)
- 2. General Hospital (**6.7**)
- 3. All My Children (**6.6**)
1991-1992 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. The Young And The Restless 8.2
- 2. All My Children 6.8
1992-1993 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. The Young And The Restless 8.4
- 2. All My Children 7.3
1993-1994 Season (HH Ratings) (1 HH rating = 942,000 Homes)
- 1. The Young And The Restless 8.6
- 2. All My Children 6.6
1994-1995 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. The Young And The Restess 7.5
- 2. All My Children 6.1
1995-1996 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. The Young And The Restless 7.7
- 2. Days Of Our Lives 5.8
- 3. The Bold And The Beautiful 5.4
- 4. All My Children 5.3
1996-1997 Season
- 1. The Young And The Restless 7.1
- 2. Days Of Our Lives 5.8
- 3. The Bold And The Beautiful 5.0
- 4. General Hospital 4.8
- 5. All My Children 4.7
1997-1998 Season
- 1. The Young And The Restless (**7.0**)
- 2. Days Of Our Lives (**5.9)
- 3. The Bold And The Beautiful (**4.8**)
- 4. General Hospital (**4.6**)
- 5. All My Children 4.2
1998-1999 Season HH Ratings
- 1. The Young And The Restless (**6.9)
- 2. Days Of Our Lives
- 3. The Bold And The Beautiful (**4.7**)
- 4. General Hospital (**4.3**)
- 5. All My Children 3.9
2000 To Current Ratings
Nielsen Media: 1999-2000 Season (HH Ratings)
- 1. The Young And The Restless (**6.8)
- 2. The Bold And The Beautiful
- 3. Days Of Our Lives
- 4. General Hospital (**4.0**)
- 5. All My Children 3.9
2000-2001 Season
- 1. The Young And The Restless (**6.7**)
- 2. The Bold And The Beautiful
- 3. General Hospital
- 4. Days Of Our Lives
- 5. All My Children 3.4
2001-2002 Season
- 1. The Young And The Restless (**6.3**)
- 2. The Bold and the Beautiful
- 3. Days of Our Lives
- 4. General Hospital (**3.7**)
- 5. As the World Turns (**3.5**)
- 6. All My Children 3.3
2002-2003 Season
- 1. The Young And The Restless
- 2. The Bold and the Beautiful
- 3. General Hospital (**3.5**)
- 4. All My Children 3.0
2003-2004 Season
- 1. The Young And The Restless
- 2. The Bold And The Beautiful
- 3. General Hospital (**3.3**)
- 4. All My Children 2.9
2004-2005 Season
- 1. The Young and the Restless
- 2. The Bold And The Beautiful
- 3. Days of Our Lives (**3.3**)
- 4. General Hospital (**3.2**)
- 5. All My Children 2.8
2005-2006 Season HH Ratings
- 1. The Young And The Restless
- 2. The Bold And The Beautiful
- 3. General Hospital
- 4. Days Of Our Lives
- 5. As The World Turns (**2.7**)
- 6. All My Children 2.6
Awards & Nominations
Executive Producing & Head Writing Team
- 1970 - 1978: Agnes Nixon & Bud Kloss
- 1978 - 1982: Agnes Nixon & Jorn Winther
- 1982 - January 1986: Jacqueline Babbin
- January 1986 - March 1986: Jorn Winther
- March 1986 - January 1989: Stephen Schenkel
- January 1989 - April 1996: Felicia Minei Behr
- April 1996 - April 1998: Francesca James
- April 1998 - September 2003: Jean Dadario Burke
- October 2003 - Present : Julie Hanan Carruthers
Trivia
- AMC was the favorite TV show of author P.G Wodehouse, who otherwise loathed television.
- A parody version of All My Children exists within the universe of Futurama, entitled All My Circuits.